Divergent is very popular right now and the movie is coming out soon, so we know it will only grow in popularity. Living in a suburb near Chicago, the buzz around the books is great because teens love talking about landmarks they recognize. We have included Divergentin our previous programs doing shrinky-dinks with faction symbols, and for our summer reading program our theme was Have Book Will Travel, so we created literary passports in which many of our teens used Divergent as one of their destinations. We have regular Teen Advisory Group meetings and the teens mentioned wanting to have a Divergent event so I know I had to do it.

We are not having our Divergent Program until after the movie comes out. I have learned to do related programs a week after the movie releases. We plan for our program to be held on March 25. Before the program, I plan to ask each of the teens a secret question and pretend it is related to a future program. This will actually be the abnegation portion. But they will not know that until later.

The next part of the program will be the choosing of the faction ceremony. The teens will pick one of the five factions –Amity, Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation and Candor. I am going to make buttons for all of the factions so that they can wear the buttons during the program. The faction ceremony will divide the teens into teams making awarding of the prizes during the program easier. We will then have contest based on each of the factions.The first contest will be the Amity art contest where each team will create a new symbol for their factions. Points will be awarded for creativity.

Erudite quiz will test their knowledge of the series, but most questions will come from the first book so that teens who have only read it will be able to do all right. We will also include Chicago trivia because the books take place in Chicago. Points will be award on correct answers.

The dauntless challenge will force teens to face their fears in the ultimate game of truth and dare. There will be physical challenges to complete during this section so that the teens can get up and move around.

The fake abnegation challenges will be to eat in the abnegation manner where the food is passed to the right and the teens will have to wait until everyone is served to eat. They will also have to eat plain food and eat quietly. They will be asked not to talk while eating. This is will be fun to see if the teens can succeed at this challenge. After the portion is over we will announce that this was a fake challenge and the real challenge was when they came in and the points will be updated accordingly as long as the teens do not kill us for messing with their minds.

Candor is a harder challenge so I am going to have them draw a picture of a window and in the window they will have to draw who they are. An example of this kind of drawing for myself would be a window with a dog and a heart, A heart that has a lock on it to show I have a hard time letting people into my heart by when I do they stay there forever. Anyone who puts effort in this will get all the points.

We will then total the points and the find the winner who is a real life Divergent. I am hoping to have Divergent swag to give to the winners. I was able to pick up signed copies of the paperback edition of Divergent for this event.

Cindy Shutts is the Teen Services Librarian at the White Oak Library District in IL. You can follow her on Twitter at @cindysku.

On deck for today’s mini-reviews are two really good dystopias, Pawn by Aimee Carter (of The Goddess Inheritance series) and Allegiant by Veronica Roth (third and final of the Divergent series, which is coming to a theater near you this spring).

First, Pawn.

Book Synopsis: In a world where everyone is given a ranking, and that rank determines your life, Kitty Doe is a throwaway- an extra. When she scores a 3 (III) on her test, her life is regulated to menial jobs and living on scraps, until a way shows itself for her to jump from III to VII- the highest of the high. However, things aren’t always what they seem, and Kitty is thrown deeper into a murky world of politics and cutthroat family ties that she never could have dreamed. Will her desire for a better life be her undoing, or can she prove that she is more than someone’s Pawn?

My thoughts: I was drawn into the book from the first, although like a lot of teens I am a huge dystopian fan so give me a good story with a twist and I get into it. Kitty is a little less forthcoming for my tastes as a heroine- she seems to spend more time scared than using her street smarts and intelligence (which we see in the first few chapters, and pops up from time to time) to get out of situations. There is a lack of world building in Pawn as well, which may not bother some readers, but it nitpicks at me. It’s a good start to the series, and I’m interested enough to see where it’s going.

Next, Allegiant.

Book Synopsis: After joining the Allegiant, Tris and Four are picked to escape the city walls and contact their predecessors, only to discover that there are more cities like theirs- and that they are a huge experiment to see if by controlling human nature and genetics humans can rid the world of war. Told in alternating chapters of Tris and Four (Tobias’) viewpoints, Tris and Tobias must figure out what to do with this new information, and when new factions arise outside the cities make choices that could sever their relationship once and for all.

My thoughts: I counted down for this book, and could NOT put it down. I know there are those out there that are completely upset by the ending (SPOILERS SWEETIE) but there are times where there can be no happy ending, and this is one story that I felt should be that way. I loved all the twists and turns and complete roadblocks, and oh, I can’t wait for this to come to theaters. Tris and Tobias are torn apart by their choices, their beliefs, brought back together, and find that the outside world, which seems so perfect, is just as flawed as theirs, if not more so. This was completely me at the end:

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